India hikes duty free allowance for expats and tourists

In a move that is bound to please 30 million non-resident Indians (NRIs), including the 2.6m Indian expats here in the UAE, the Indian government has announced an increase in the duty free allowance for expats, Indian nationals returning from a trip abroad, as well as foreigners entering the country.

The duty free allowance for NRIs, PIOs (persons of Indian origin), and foreigners coming from any country (other than China, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar) has been increased to goods worth Rs45,000 (Dh2,530). This limit, which earlier stood at Rs35,000, has gone up by Rs10,000, or 28.57 per cent.

In addition, according to the new Customs declaration forms, the limit on Indian currency that passengers entering India can now carry without having to declare it has increased from Rs10,000 (Dh560) to Rs25,000 (Dh1,400), an increase of Rs15,000, or 150 per cent.

This is according to the Customs Baggage Declaration (Amendment) Regulations, 2015, notified on Tuesday by the Indian Finance Ministry.

The customs declaration firms also have an extra field now that mandates that passengers declare any LCD, LED or Plasma TV sets being brought by them into the country.

In a move unpopular among NRIs and other Indian travellers, India had banned the duty-free import of flat-panel TVs in a bid to appease the local TV manufacturers.

Read: NRI Alert: India bans duty-free import of TVs

The then Indian government imposed a punishing 35 per cent duty on the import LCD, LED or Plasma TVs, blaming the declining Indian currency for the move.

Using the declining rupee as a pretext, the Indian government had then given in to the long-standing demand of local TV retailers and banned duty-free import of flat-screen television sets by air travellers.

According to Indian government estimates, more than 1 million TV sets were brought into the country in 2012, with Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore as the primary sources.

Before then, NRIs and other airline passengers could carry one piece of flat TV (plasma/LED/LCD) for personal use, worth up to Rs35,000 (Dh2,000) as part of their baggage allowance, without incurring any customs duty on the same.

In the latest overhaul of the allowances now, new rules have also slashed the duty free allowance of cigarettes to 100 sticks (from the earlier 200 sticks), 25 cigars (earlier 50) and 150gm (earlier 250gm) of tobacco that can be brought in by passengers.

The forms already include fields for declaring gold, jewellery and bullion (over the allowed limit), satphones, foreign currency exceeding $10,000 (Dh36,730), and other dutiable and/or prohibited items.

As per the recently increased gold allowance, men can carry gold worth Rs50,000 (Dh2,800) while women have double the allowance (Dh5,600). At today’s gold rate, that works out to about 20.5 grams for men and 41gm for women.

Prior to April 17, 2012, eligible passengers returning from abroad after a minimum stay of six months were allowed to bring 10kg of gold on payment of appropriate customs duty. However, the Indian government slashed the quantity of gold allowed to be brought by such eligible passengers returning from abroad from 10kg to 1kg with effect from April 18, 2012.

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